Cover Me, I'm Going In!

This afternoon I'm going to tackle my nemesis room--the study.  That is my main focus for my clean start in 2012 (mostly because I all ready did the living room before decorating for Christmas, and the master bedroom this fall when I moved my sewing stuff into DS2's room after he left for college).

Here are some "before" pictures of the study to show you what I'm facing.

standing in the doorway, facing the south wall

standing in the doorway, facing east

standing near the desk, facing west (the desk takes up most of the west wall)

As you can see, taming and organizing this mess will be no quick or easy task.  So, cover me, I'm going in!  I have to kill the clutter before it kills me. 

I confess, there is another motive too.  I'm hoping that cleaning out this room will convince DH to finish the wall-to-wall book case (with storage drawers/cupboards underneath) for the south wall that he started about five years ago, got stuck in his designing, and left unfinished as just the 'shelf' that all the crap proceeded to accumulate on. 

A Clean Start

A clean start (also known as a fresh start, but I'm sticking with 'clean' for this post).  Isn't that what we've all wished for at least once in our lives?  The chance to erase past problems, mistakes, or regrets, and start all over again.  A chance to do things differently, better, with a more happy result.

With the new year soon to begin, I've decided to make a clean start, of sorts.

Don't worry, I'm not leaving this little place here.  Not changing my marital status; we're at 18 1/2 and shooting for 20, LOL!  I'm still going to be an involved mom, an ever-present part of my children's lives while they are still at home. 

My clean start is with my house.  It's slid way too far down the slope of disorganization, clutter, and ever growing dust bunnies. It's not like the health department is going to condemn it or anything; no, it's just that I'm a person who thrives on order, and the house (well, more than the house--the garage, the garden, even the barn) has become a stressful chaotic mess.  This hasn't been an overnight thing.  Or even a 'December is so busy getting ready for Christmas' thing.  Nope, it's taken a few years to get to this point, and I'm just not going to let it go any further.  This is my rock bottom of disorder.

It's time for me to take it back over.  I'm the lady of the house.  It's my domain, and I'm the one who gets to set the standard.  My standard is organization.  Simplicity.  Peace.  Not stuff it here, there, anywhere, cuz we're too busy to deal with it.  Not "Mom I don't feel like cleaning so I'm going to stall until you get distracted with something else and  don't notice I haven't swept the stairs all week".   Not things that MIL sent over via Sister-In-Law or DH that DH didn't know what to do with, have a use for, or a place to put them so he abandoned them for me to deal with.

Clean.  Orderly.  Useful. Enjoyable.  Those are the new tenets of this little place here.  This really isn't a home of children any longer.  This is a home with two 40-somethings, a teen about to leave for college (aka pseudo-adulthood) in eight months, and a teen who should be knee deep in her training on how to run a home.  No excuse for dust bunnies, streaky windows, or piles of things stuffed into the room that is supposed to be the study/home office.  No need for toys that never got fixed after they broke years ago, or board games or decks of cards that are missing half their components.  And no need for the things MIL sent that we don't want and will never use, but are keeping just because she gave them to us.

So, between now and midnight the thirty-first, there will be a whole lot of decluttering going on.  Usable things will be listed on Freecycle and Craigslist.  Donations dropped off at Goodwill.  A whole lot of sweeping and mopping going on.  Dust bunny evictions.  Cobweb deconstructions.  The trash bin will probably be full on Monday morning; full of things not re-usable, donate-able, compost-able, or burn-able.

I'll greet 2012 with a clean start.  With some order and structure instead of feeling like I'm always flying by the seat of my pants and getting buried in stuff other people want me to have/take care of.  Hopefully it will at least last until maple syrup season starts in February or early March.  With great will power (and willing daughters and husband), it will become a permanent thing--the next phase of my life: the orderly and relaxing home.

A Surprise Sighting

Monday afternoon I sat down to the dining room table for lunch.  I sat facing the sliding door that looks out over the back yard and the field.  I noticed a large black spot in one of the trees on the edge of the woods.  Then I thought I saw a blindingly white spot right above the black spot.

So, I jumped up and got the binoculars (that handily live on the ledge in the dining room, for ease of looking at things in the field).  The binoculars confirmed my thought that the black spot with the white spot made up a bald eagle.  Very rare thing to see at this little place here.  They usually live a couple hundred miles north.

 

I don't know where this one came from; it was in the tree all ready when I looked out the door.

I don't know where it went; it stayed in that tree for almost an hour, and I got busy with other things.  When I looked out the door later in the afternoon, it was gone.

Very cool. 

Frugal Food #10 Soup!

It's officially winter.  And winter is a great time to eat soup!  It's warm, it's hearty, it's comforting. It's easy and cheap to make!  (That is, if you're not opening giant cans of it to give your family a soup dinner.)

Soup is flexible.  You can make soup out of just about anything.  Remember the story of Stone Soup?  That about sums it up.  Throw a little of this, a little of that, a bunch of water and some seasonings into a pot, let it simmer, and viola, you have soup.

Bones are great things to use.  Christmas is coming; are you serving ham?  If so, and you are using a real ham (with a bone) vs 'ham' that has been shaped and formed into a boneless loaf-type of thing, don't throw out that bone!  Use it to make a filling batch of bean or split pea soup in the days after the holiday.

Same thing if you are serving a turkey for the big holiday meal: save the bones (aka the carcass).  Boil them in some water, and you have the base for turkey noodle soup.

Pork bones, beef bones, and chicken bones, all make great soup stock.  Or, go vegetarian and use tomato juice as your soup base.  Or potatoes, milk and cheese for a thick yummy potato soup.

I won't post any recipes here, because
1. I'm short on time and want to get this posted ;0),
and
2. there are tons of soup recipes on the Internet for those who seek them out.

Seek them out!  Soup is a very cheap meal to make.  Serve it with some form of bread (crackers, rolls, biscuits, muffins, even just slices of buttered bread), and you have a full belly very cheaply.

Look What I Made!

This is especially for those of you with wee little ones in your life.  Here is something I made my niece (born at the end of September) for Christmas.

It's called a "Bapron", or baby apron.

 I got the instructions here: http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/05/bapron-tutorial.html

Super easy to make; even beginner seamstresses should find it doable.  For the advanced sewer, you can make self-bias tape like I did, or you can 'cheat' and use purchased bias tape.  Start to finish, it took less than an hour to create. 

It has a 100 % cotton novelty print on front.

And pale yellow cotton flannel on back.  The bias tape at neckline makes the ties for around baby's neck, while the bias tape at the shoulders make armholes, hence the 'apron'. 

Total cost outlay: probably less than a dollar, as it uses so little fabric.  The print was a discounted 'end' I picked up for less than $2 for about a yard of fabric, the flannel was leftover from a baby quilt I made 10 years ago, and I made the bias tape from the print rather than buying pre-made bias.  I have enough of the print leftover that I could probably make 3-4 more.

(For those that may have noticed, yes, I did cut the fabric wrong--the print is upside down on the bapron.  My excuse is that now my niece can 'read' it when she is wearing it--looking down at it--LOL.  Really, I forgot when I was pinning the pattern to the fabric to check the direction of the print.)

Challenges, Again

I haven't posted in a few days.  Okay, more than a few.  About five.  Computer came down with a virus and DH was out of town.  Since I'm not that good with computers (I'm good at Word and other writing types of things, not good at all at fixing or understanding how the computer works), I was not able to fix it.  So, the computer stayed shut down, with the internet button switched off, until DH got home from his most recent work trip and was able to doctor the computer back to health. 

This week was looking to be a busy one.  It was supposed to be Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, finishing making about 7 presents, going out to dinner with DH (since he was working out of state on my birthday), going to the high school band & choir concert both DDs are in, church choir practice, Wednesday evening advent serive at church, having a family Christmas with my parents, etc, etc.  And of course, posting on the blog!  I do enjoy posting.  Well, honestly I enjoy writing, and I blog hoping that something I write will be helpful to someone else.

Anyway, I thought I had this week all figured out and would be able to post at least three or four times in addition to all my homestead, family, and holiday duties.

Then this morning I got news that the guy who works at the horse farm down the road is having some health problems, and was on the way to his doctor.  The last time he had these problems, he was off work for three weeks, and I filled in for him (feeding 2x a day 7 days a week, doing turnouts, cleaning stalls, filling feedrooms, repairing fences, etc).  

Being a good neighbor, (and good friend to the farm owner for more than 20 years), and concerned about the horses, I'm on standby, waiting for the verdict from his doctor and shuffling my plans in order to take care of the daily needs of 11 horses.   And wondering now just how to fit everything holiday related that needs to be done.  Plus not delay my 'date' with DH. 

If I'm MIA from the blog this week, you'll know why.

Holiday Gifts, Edible Style

Giving food as gifts has been a tradition at this little place here.  Actually, from before that.  I remember baking cookies with  my mother to give to friends, neighbors, and teachers when I was young.  My first Christmas on my own, I gave everyone cookies, fudge and peanut brittle because it was about all I could afford (ingredients are cheap, and I had tons of time back then).

Food is a sure-fire gift.  I mean, who doesn't eat?  Who doesn't appreciate free food?  Especially those who don't have the time or inclination (I won't say talent, because I truly believe it's a skill that can be developed through time and inclination) to bake or cook.

If you are looking for inspiration on what to give for the holidays, here are some examples of things that we've given as gifts through the years.  I'll even throw in a few recipes for you :0)

Candies:
chocolate fudge, chocolate walnut fudge, orange chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, toffee, peanut brittle, buckeyes, chocolate dipped pretzels.

None of these are very hard to make.  Toffee is a breeze, taking less than 10 minutes, and only four ingredients.  Peanut brittle takes a bit longer, and I recommend having a candy thermometer to help with the different additions at different temps.

Toffee
1 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Butter a 9"x9"x2" square pan.  Spread pecans evenly in bottom of pan.  In a small saucepan, heat butter and brown sugar to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil 7 minutes (make sure to time this) and keep stirring constantly.  At the end of 7 minutes, immediately spread mixture evenly over pecans in square pan.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Cover with a cookie sheet.  Let stand 1 minute to soften chips.  Remove cookie sheet, spread the now melted chocolate over candy.  While still hot, cut into serving size pieces (or not, sometimes I forget to do this and end up breaking it into pieces later).  Refrigerate (or stick outside in winter) until firm.

It's that easy.

Pies:
apple, pecan, pumpkin, rhubarb (using rhubarb from freezer, who doesn't love a rhubarb pie when rhubarb is out of season?)

Breads:
cinnamon bread, whole wheat bread, asiago cheese bread, herb bread, banana bread, pumpkin bread

Cinnamon bread is really easy to do, especially if you are used to making breads with yeast.  Basically, you make white bread dough (or, I suppose, buy bread dough from the store), roll each 'loaf' of dough flat into an 8"x15" rectangle, sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of cold water, sprinkle over that a mixture of 2 Tbsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Starting at one short side, roll dough tightly, sealing seam when you get to the other short side.  Put in a greased bread pan, seam side down, cover with a cloth, rise in a warm place 30-60 minutes, then bake for 25 minutes in a 425 degree oven (bottom rack of oven, please).  When done baking, remove from pan immediately to wire cooling rack.  While still hot, butter the top.

Cookies:
frosted sugar cookies, thumbprint cookies, candy cane cookies, gingerbread men, double chocolate treasures, spritz cookies, pfeffernusse cookies. . .

Double Chocolate Treasures:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2c rolled oats (Quaker oats, etc)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt 1 cup of chocolate chips. Stir until smooth, cool slightly.  Beat together butter & sugar until light and fluffy.  Blend in eggs, vanilla and melted chocolate.  Add dry ingredients, except powdered sugar, then stir in remaining cup of chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1" balls, roll in powdered sugar, coating balls heavily.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes.  Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then remove to wire cooling rack.

Jar Mixes:
hot cocoa, brownies, cowboy cookies, M&M cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, chili macaroni dinner, stroganoff dinner, chicken dinner. . .the list goes on and on. 

It's amazing all the dry ingredients you can stick in a jar that the recipient can add eggs, oil, etc to, stir together, and bake up at home.  Kids especially seem to love to get these jar mixes because it is an easy way for them to 'cook' their own treats.  Search online for recipes, that's how I got all of mine (with the exception of the dinner mixes, that's something I created on my own to sell at the farmers' market. . .)

Homemade Jams:
strawberry, blackberry, tart cherry (tastes like cherry pie), sweet cherry, peach.

We've also given things like venison summer sausage, and homemade venison jerky (I'd post that recipe, but I think DH would kill me; it's his own top secret creation). 

This year I'm thinking of giving "breakfast baskets": making pancake mix (add eggs, milk and oil later), and giving that with a pint of the maple syrup I made this past spring. If the chickens cooperate (they aren't laying at the moment) I might put farm fresh eggs in there too.  Or perhaps I'll make a bunch of bagels of various flavors and give those along with some spreadable cream cheese. Next year I'd like to try my hand at cheese making, so maybe next Christmas I'll be giving gift baskets of homemade cheese, crackers, and venison sausage.

The possibilities for food gifts are endless.